Bosch and Plus are collaborating to make software-defined commercial trucks a reality. Through a new technology agreement, Plus is offering its PlusDrive solution with the integrated steering system from Bosch featuring hardware and software to deliver driver assistance and partially automated features to commercial vehicles. The announcement was made today at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Anaheim, California.
PlusDrive-enabled L2++ vehicles are equipped with a predictive 360 degree surround perception system and provide partial automation by continuously helping drivers with acceleration, braking and steering. The PlusDrive software-based system and the Bosch hardware plus software steering solution work together to enable assisted driving and automated functions. PlusDrive provides traffic jam assist, merge handling, driver initiated and suggested lane change, over-the-air updates, lane nudge, sensor self-calibration, driver attentiveness detection, and other highly automated driving features. When combined with Bosch’s steering system for lateral control, its benefits include driver retention, fuel economy savings and assistance capabilities to help reduce accidents.
“New mobility solutions require new, enhanced collaboration,” said Paul Thomas, executive vice president of Mobility Solutions, Americas for Bosch. “Our agreement with Plus complements existing Bosch portfolio elements and is one of multiple ways we can work together to support our customers.”
“Plus’s underlying next-generation safety solution enabled by our open autonomy platform, combined with Bosch’s steering software system, will help to prevent accidents in commercial vehicles and make roads safer. The proven commercial readiness of our highly automated Plus system accelerates the deployment for our partners and improves the safety and sustainability for the trucking industry,” said Shawn Kerrigan, COO and co-founder, Plus.
Beyond offering hardware and software solutions in its steering technology, Bosch can also provide advanced engineering services from its Bosch Engineering team focused on vehicle integration, security and safety for the combined Bosch and Plus solution offered to commercial vehicle truck manufacturers.
In addition to steering solutions for commercial vehicles, Bosch also delivers hardware and software solutions supporting increasing levels of automation in commercial vehicles. Bosch technology can help to provide significantly more powerful electronics architecture, thereby delivering the basis for the software-defined truck. Half the R&D associates in the Bosch Mobility Solutions business sector are software engineers. Among other things, this promotes the development of automated driving.
